Brenda Joyce, only actress to play Jane opposite 2 ‘Tarzan’ actors, dies in Santa Monica at 92

‘Tarzan’ actress Brenda Joyce dies at 92

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Brenda Joyce, a movie actress who played Jane in five “Tarzan” films, has died. She was 92.

A family friend, David Ragan, says she suffered from dementia for a decade and died July 4 of pneumonia at a nursing home in Santa Monica.

Joyce, whose real name was Betty Leabo, appeared in some two dozen movies but she is best known for succeeding Maureen O’Sullivan as Jane in the “Tarzan” pictures. She appeared in the “Tarzan” movies in the 1940s, opposite Johnny Weissmuller and later Lex Barker.

Joyce made her last movie in 1949. Ragan says she worked for the immigration department for a decade, helping new immigrants find housing and work.

She is survived by a son, two daughters and three grandchildren.